Creutz Fermions on an Orthogonal Lattice

In a recent paper, Creutz has given a new action describing two species of Dirac fermions with exact chiral symmetry on the lattice. This action depends on a parameter which may be fixed at a certain value in order to get the right continuum limit. In this letter, we elaborate more on this idea and present an action which is free of any other parameter except the fermion mass.Comment: 9 pages, version to be published in PR

Rupture and intra-peritoneal bleeding of a hepatocellular carcinoma after a transarterial chemoembolization procedure: a case report

Deposited according publisher policy posted on Sherpa/RoMEO November 16, 2011. Updated version of CC Attribution 2.0 assigned -- CC Attribution 3.0 with international jurisdiction.YesFunding provided by the Open Access Authors Fund

Chiral Fermions and Multigrid

Lattice regularization of chiral fermions is an important development of the theory of elementary particles. Nontheless, brute force computer simulations are very expensive, if not prohibitive. In this letter I exploit the non-interacting character of the lattice theory in the flavor space and propose a multigrid approach for the simulation of the theory. Already a two-grid algorithm saves an order of magnitude of computer time for fermion propagator calculations.Comment: Latex, 6 pages, 1 figur

Health-related quality of life in facial palsy:translation and validation of the Dutch version Facial Disability Index

Contains fulltext : 229876.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)PURPOSE: Patient-reported outcome measures are essential in the evaluation of facial palsy. Aim of this study was to translate and validate the Facial Disability Index (FDI) for use in the Netherlands. METHODS: The FDI was translated into Dutch according to a forward-backward method. Construct validity was assessed by formulating 22 hypotheses regarding associations of FDI scores with the Facial Clinimetric Evaluation scale, the Synkinesis Assessment Questionnaire, the Short Form-12 and the Sunnybrook Facial Grading System. Validity was considered adequate if at least 75% (i.e. 17 out of 22) of the hypotheses were confirmed. Additionally, confirmatory factor analysis was performed. Cronbach's α was calculated as a measure of internal consistency. Participants were asked to fill out the FDI a second time after 2 weeks to analyse test-retest reliability. Lastly, smallest detectable change was calculated. RESULTS: In total, 19 hypotheses (86.4%) were confirmed. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit for the two factor structure of the original FDI (root mean square error of approximation = 0.064, standardized root mean square residual = 0.081, comparative fit index = 0.925, Chi-square = 50.22 with 34 degrees of freedom). Internal consistency for the FDI physical function scale was good (α > 0.720). Internal consistency for the FDI social/well-being scale was slightly less (α > 0.574). Test-retest reliability for both scales was good (intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.786). Smallest detectable change at the level of the individual was 17.6 points for the physical function and 17.7 points for the social/well-being function, and at group level 1.9 points for both scales. CONCLUSION: The Dutch version FDI shows good psychometric properties. The relatively large values for individual smallest detectable change may limit clinical use. The translation and widespread use of the FDI in multiple languages can help to compare treatment results internationally

Food-derived sensory cues modulate longevity via distinct neuroendocrine insulin-like peptides

Environmental fluctuations influence organismal aging by affecting various regulatory systems. One such system involves sensory neurons, which affect life span in many species. However, how sensory neurons coordinate organismal aging in response to changes in environmental signals remains elusive. Here, we found that a subset of sensory neurons shortens Caenorhabditis elegans' life span by differentially regulating the expression of a specific insulin-like peptide (ILP), INS-6. Notably, treatment with food-derived cues or optogenetic activation of sensory neurons significantly increases ins-6 expression and decreases life span. INS-6 in turn relays the longevity signals to nonneuronal tissues by decreasing the activity of the transcription factor DAF-16/FOXO. Together, our study delineates a mechanism through which environmental sensory cues regulate aging rates by modulating the activities of specific sensory neurons and ILPs.1186Ysciescopu

Circulation Patterns Associated with Current and Future Rainfall over Ethiopia and South Sudan from a Convection-Permitting Model

Ethiopia and South Sudan contain several population centers and important ecosystems that depend on July–August rainfall. Here we use two models to understand current and future rainfall: the first ever pan-African numerical model of climate change with explicit convection and a parameterized model that resembles a typical regional climate model at 4.5 and 25 km horizontal grid-spacing, respectively. The explicit convection and higher resolution of the first model offer a greatly improved representation of both the frequency and intensity of rainfall, when compared to the parametrized convection model. Furthermore, only this model has success in capturing the east–west propagation of rainfall over the full diurnal cycle. Enhanced low-level westerlies were found for extremely wet days, though this response was weaker in the explicit convection model. The increased orographic detail in the explicit model resulted in the splitting of the low-level Turkana Jet core into smaller cores, and inhibited its penetration far into South Sudan. Some projected changes were found to be independent of model, such as changes in the strength of Somali and Turkana jets, as well as the shifting of Turkana jet core to lower levels. However, the explicit model end-of-century projections showed a larger and clearer decrease in wet days, accompanied by an increase in wet day intensity and extreme rainfall. This study highlights serious limitations of relying solely on simulations which parameterize convection to inform decisions in the region of South Sudan and Ethiopia

The Deconfinement Phase Transition in One-Flavour QCD

We present a study of the deconfinement phase transition of one-flavour QCD, using the multiboson algorithm. The mass of the Wilson fermions relevant for this study is moderately large and the non-hermitian multiboson method is a superior simulation algorithm. Finite size scaling is studied on lattices of size $8^3\times 4$, $12^3\times 4$ and $16^3\times 4$. The behaviours of the peak of the Polyakov loop susceptibility, the deconfinement ratio and the distribution of the norm of the Polyakov loop are all characteristic of a first-order phase transition for heavy quarks. As the quark mass decreases, the first-order transition gets weaker and turns into a crossover. To investigate finite size scaling on larger spatial lattices we use an effective action in the same universality class as QCD. This effective action is constructed by replacing the fermionic determinant with the Polyakov loop identified as the most relevant Z(3) symmetry breaking term. Higher-order effects are incorporated in an effective Z(3)-breaking field, $h$, which couples to the Polyakov loop. Finite size scaling determines the value of $h$ where the first order transition ends. Our analysis at the end - point, $h_{ep}$, indicates that the effective model and thus QCD is consistent with the universality class of the three dimensional Ising model. Matching the field strength at the end point, $h_{ep}$, to the $\kappa$ values used in the dynamical quark simulations we estimate the end point, $\kappa_{ep}$, of the first-order phase transition. We find $\kappa_{ep}\sim 0.08$ which corresponds to a quark mass of about 1.4 GeV .Comment: LaTex, 25 pages, 18 figure

Atmospheric and oceanic conditions associated with early and late onset for Eastern Africa short rains

Timing of the rainy season is essential for a number of climate sensitive sectors over Eastern Africa. This is particularly true for the agricultural sector, where most activities depend on both the spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall throughout the season. Using a combination of observational and reanalysis datasets, the present study investigates the atmospheric and oceanic conditions associated with early and late onset for Eastern Africa short rains season (October–December). Our results indicate enhanced rainfall in October and November during years with early onset and rainfall deficit in years with late onset for the same months. Early onset years are found to be associated with warmer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the western Indian Ocean, and an enhanced moisture flux and anomalous low-level flow into Eastern Africa from as early as the first dekad of September. The late onset years are characterized by cooler SSTs in the western Indian Ocean, anomalous westerly moisture flux and zonal flow limiting moisture supply to the region. The variability in onset date is separated into the interannual and decadal components, and the links with SSTs and low-level circulation over the Indian Ocean basin are examined separately for both timescales. Significant correlations are found between the interannual variability of the onset and the Indian Ocean dipole mode index. On decadal timescales the onset is shown to be partly driven by the variability of the SSTs over the Indian Ocean. Understanding the influence of these potentially predictable SST and moisture patterns on onset variability has huge potential to improve forecasts of the East African short rains. Improved prediction of the variability of the rainy season onset has huge implications for improving key strategic decisions and preparedness action in many sectors, including agriculture